I cover all things luxurious and eye-catching for ForbesLife, with a special interest in designs that are both practical and beautiful--though I wouldn't turn down an exceptional chocolate, nightlife or fragrance story. My background includes writing about interior design for Architizer and working in the editorial department at Good Housekeeping. And when I need a break from reality, I enjoy writing novels.

Living in Color: The Potential Dangers of Artificial Dyes

Try going a day without exposure to artificial colors. Kool-aid and Jell-O may be among the most obviously artificially colored products, but they’re far from being the only ones that Americans use on a regular basis.

Adding colors to food can make them look a lot more appealing – a tactic the food industry has been capitalizing on for decades. Would your children rather eat muted brown cereal or the rainbow-colored brand? Are you more tempted to purchase a bright green pickle, or a grayish one?

Many popular candies, drinks, popsicles, puddings, yogurts, gums, boxed mac n’ cheeses, baking mixes, pickles, meats, fruits, sauces and chips contain ingredients such as Yellow #5, Blue #1, and Red #40 – three of the most popular FDA-permitted ones. As if that’s not enough, the dye in our day isn’t limited to food. Chances are, if you take vitamins, use cough syrup, brush your teeth, wash your hands, shampoo your hair, launder your clothing and moisturize your lips on a daily basis — you come into contact with artificial dyes quite frequently.

The safety of products containing artificial colors has been a point of debate for decades – adversaries claiming that they are toxic, carcinogens and contributors to ADHD. Still, seven dyes remain on the FDA’s approved list for use in the United States. Whether or not external exposure to artificial colors is hazardous to our health is even less evident. Because personal care products that contain artificial colors almost always contain numerous other unnatural chemicals, (sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens, etc.) if a consumer experiences skin irritation or a reaction, determining the culpable ingredient can be tricky.

For centuries, people and companies used dyes derived from natural ingredients to color food. But many of these natural colors contained toxins such as mercury, copper and arsenic. Around the turn of the 20th century, scientists began formulating synthetic colors, derived from coal tar, to replace the existing toxic natural ones. Unfortunately, these synthetic alternatives have proven to have their own slew of problems.

In 1906, the Pure Food and Drugs Act (a.k.a. the “Wiley Act”) instituted the first restrictions on color additives in the United States. In general terms, the law banned artificial colors that proved “injurious to health,” and the government hired chemist Dr. Bernard Hesse to investigate which of the existing 80 dyes being used in foods were safe enough to keep legal. The next three decades saw a process of eliminating colors that caused recurrent adverse health effects in the public. By 1938, only 15 synthetic colors were still legal, and those were subsequently divided into three categories: those suitable for foods, drugs, and cosmetics; those suitable only for drugs and cosmetics; and those suitable only for cosmetics.

Today only seven colors remain on the FDA’s approved list. Almost every decade, another coal tar issue surfaces, eliminating more and more of the artificial additives in America. For example, after Halloween in 1950, the government banned Orange #1 when many children became ill after consumption. In the 1970s, scientific testing pointed to Red #2’s potential carcinogenic properties (caused intestinal tumors in rats), and it too was banned. Yellows #1, #2, #3, and #4 are among the others that have since been made illegal, and Yellow #5 is currently undergoing further testing for links to hyperactivity, anxiety, migraines and cancer (the color has already been banned in many European countries).

The link between artificial colors and behavioral problems is a concern, especially for parents of children diagnosed with ADHD. But conflicting results from studies among scientists explains why there are still seven approved colors in the United States. The CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest), a non-profit watchdog group, continues to push to ban the existing dyes, or at least apply warning labels on products that contain them, like the E.U. does for six. After a study in 2007 at the University of Southampton, the six dyes that came to be known as the “Southampton Six” were linked to hyperactivity in children, and now require warning labels in the E.U. The FDA, however, is not so convinced that such measures are necessary.

Not surprisingly, the Grocers Manufacturing Association, whose members include Coca-Cola, Nestle and General Mills, questions the validity of these studies and claims made by groups such as the CSPI. While the FDA does not reject the proposition that the remaining approved artificial colors may carry adverse health effects, its representatives generally agree, stating that further evidence is needed before another ban is enacted. FDA scientists have theorized that bad reactions to artificial colorings in certain individuals may be similar to a food allergy, in that they only affect a small group of people and need be avoided by those select individuals only, as opposed to the entire public.

The IFIC (International Food Info Council), an independent foundation that strives to communicate “science-based information on health, nutrition and food safety for the public good,” has weighed in on the labeling debate too. According to Senior Director of the Food Ingredient department for the IFIC, Lindsey Loving, warning labels could do more harm than good. “Adding a warning statement could confuse the general public for whom the message is not intended, and could cause alarm regarding safe food ingredients that have been consumed by the general public for years,” Loving stated.

In the U.S., many popular products rely heavily on artificial colors, placing pressure on the FDA to both protect the consumer, and avoid making unnecessary regulations based on shaky evidence that could put such companies out of business. While companies that use artificial colors as subtle ingredients to enhance the appearance of food would have to tweak their recipes, candy and cereal companies would take the hardest blows. If Red #40 and Yellow #5 disappear, how will children be able to “experience the rainbow” (Skittles’ tagline)?

Outlawing the seven remaining artificial colors is like requiring that car manufacturers make only electric or extremely fuel-efficient automobiles — forcing companies to either drop the products from their line or create entirely new formulas in the interest of public health. For companies that rely on coal tar colors, the cost of finding replacement ingredients, changing recipes, and possibly losing sales due to a less visually-appealing product, may be a death sentence.

Luckily for the concerned consumer, the future is not all grim. More and more companies are taking a different approach to marketing by tapping into buyers’ desire for natural products. The cheese industry is making a shift toward using annatto color (natural derivative from achiote seeds) to replace Yellow #5. Naturally colored and flavored alternatives to gummies, lollipops, cereals, yogurts and gums stock the shelves of many American grocery stores; you’ve surely seen that label by now: “Contains no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.” Even pet food manufacturers are heading down the natural route. So while the FDA may not outlaw the seven remaining artificial colors tomorrow, Americans increasingly have access to naturally colored products, thus bestowing upon us the power of choice.

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As for IFIC, the facts speak for themselves, they are an industry sponsored NGO.

I have a son with with a Learning Disability and if you don’t think I’ve turned over ever rock, spoken to the very best reserchers at NIH and other places about the relationship of diet and his health you are nuts.

As a food fundamentalist, it’s “do not confuse me with the facts because my mind is made up.” The great thring about a supermarket that stocks more than 50,000 items, is that you have choice. Buy all natural and organic, whatever that means.

Artificial colors can be made from many things, not just insects. More and more foods are being colored with fruits, beta carotene, annatto and minerals to add bright colors to food. After a 2007 British study showed that synthetic dyes trigger ADHD symptoms in most children, not just a small minority, the UK began pressuring food manufacturers to remove the dyes, and now they have largely been replaced by natural dyes in all of Europe. Multi-national companies use real ingredients in the foods they sell in the EU, but continue to use the petroleum-based dyes for the same brands sold in the US. The nonprofit Feingold Association has long helped families find the foods they enjoy, but without the harmful dyes. In fact the Association’s September newsletter features brightly colored cakes and frostings that are made with natural ingredients. (www.feingold.org) A reaction to a synthetic food dye is no more like a food allergy than a reaction to consuming kerosene! The ugly secret behind these pretty colors is that most of them are made from crude oil. The toxic contaminants that were once found in food colors are still there. The FDA allows dyes to contain things like lead, mercury and arsenic. Since most dyes are now manufactured (in petroleum refineries) in China, the oversight is likely to be more lax than ever. As for the International Food Information Council being an “independent” group whose concern is “the public good,” just follow the source of funding to learn where the loyalty lies!

To me, the studies showing the damage done by synthetic food dyes is very clear. No doubt at all. I’ve seen, first hand, what they do to our children. Many thanks to those companies that are striving to making our shopping easier and healthier.

I strongly recommend people to take care about everything has to do with their daily health care. The best solution is that we have to use and eat only natural-biological products and the best thing is to try to make products on our own. From the internet, we can find numerous interesting pages with DIY tips and guide-videos. Well. It is time to go back where we belong: to nature! Moreover, it is all up to us!

Just boycott the companies who wont drop Yellow 5-6. If Kraft can make Mac & Cheese colored with Turmeric, “which makes a beautiful bright yellow”and paprika for the orange” especially for the UK they an make it for the USA. They make the SAFE kind for the UK!!!! Just don’t eat the unsafe chemically altered foods out there. Support your organic farmers and local farmers markets, and natural foods coops.

Forty years ago, a friend’s young son was so hyper he couldn’t sit still for very long and was disrupting the class. His parents were told that if they couldn’t calm him down, he would be kicked out of school. They found a doctor who told them to get him off any foods with artificial flavoring, colors and sugar. He was put on a basic simple diet – no junk, no pop, no sugary cereals and an exercise program. Within a week he was doing very well in school. A can of orange pop could put him back in hyper mode, his parents had to monitor his food but he finished school with good grades and good reports from his teachers. Cheap, simple and easy, but it keeps the drug companies from making a profit!

i must admit years ago when i heard people talking about stuff like this i didnt understand what the big deal was but now i have a child who has had severe reactions or intollerances to these colors. the discovery came thru many sicknesses after giving her antibiotics, benadryl, and steroids.she vomit and had diaria until she was so lifeless and dehydrated that she couldnt even hold herself on the tiolet and was hospitalized. whats worse is to find out that it all comes down to money$. the whole world is becoming aware of these harmful dangers and why isnt anyone doing anything about it, cause common people like me cant afford to go against these multimillion$ companies. well i ask you this what if it was your child, baby sister or brother or momma or daddy or best friend that you were poisoning, cause it is. study these ingredients then deside if things really need to be laced with carcinoginics just to look a certain way. its like taking a perfectly good apple off a tree and dipping it and poison and giving it to someone. oh yea its been done remember the evil witch on snow white. the thing is the witch was honest enough to herself to know she did it to get rid of or kill snow white cause she was jealous and hated her. what have all these innocent children and adults done to the companies to deserve to be poisoned by them. we have been paying them and trusting them with our families lives only to be betrayed by these silent killers called colors. and we all wonder why so many people around us are having such awful health problems like cancer, autism, adhd, anxiety,ext. i dont wonder the answer is very clear to me, it doesnt have to be black or white its colors. sincerely sasha perry